Is it just me, or do the Japanese take that kind of thing more seriously?Single albums, sing-a-long lyrics at the bottom, voice actor/actress interviews, pop songs made by actual musicians the greater half of the time.

Hell, Bilyl West has voiced god knows how many characters over the years, but I think that voicing in Japan is like a somewhat celebrity status over there.

Eus, I should ban you for refreshing my memory with that shit. :P It's doubly shameful because Ys I and II had actual talent doing the voices. Of course, that was humorous in its own way; there's only so much Michael Bell can do when he has to say the name Dark Fact and say it like he means it. :P

IMHO, 'tis far easier to say Dark Fact with a straight face than it is to say 'The Fear!' in with a faux Chris Latta rasp and not be wondering if a career as a voice actor is all its cracked up to be. Oh well, at least Mr. Bell is working, which is more than can be said of a lot of VAs from the 80s (including the late Mr. Latta -- R.I.P.)

...and on that note: a guilty pleasure of mine is hearing Jim Cummings deliver the 'when the black funeral bell tolls 3 times' speech. Speaking of Cummings, he was in just about EVERYTHING for years, and now he's apparently dropped off the radar. To be fair, he probably needed a vacation...but I want to hear him voice some new stuff! Come back, Mr. Cummings!

I'll take the shittiest dub over the best Japanese voice acting because:

1. I hate all things that smack of Japanese popular culture. It's hard to have a culture without a language, so it counts. :P

2. Chittering away in a language I can't understand only serves as a distraction. It certainly does nothing to draw me into a game. If I had to choose between hearing nothing and hearing Kamehakaneko-sama say konnichiwa to Reikikuliku-chan, I'd definitely pick nothing.

I would agree. I find dialogue in a language I cannot understand to be a distraction from a game. If anything, it would detract from the experience. I would also note that since I do not understand the of the Japanese voice acting, there is no basis for me to judge its quality.

I would rather listen to bad voice acting in a language I understand than listen to voice acting that is in a language I do not. At the very least, I can mock and be amused by the bad English voice acting.

Depends on the scenario. If I don't particularly care for the story or it's just that damn funny, then I'll gladly deal with bad dubbing; I think Enchanted Arms may be such a case because of the gay guy, and I doubt the story is seriously going to be that amazingly fresh anyway. But if I want to at least TRY to take a game seriously, or it's just fitting (takes place in Japan ala Onimusha 1 and 2), then I'll just put it in Japanese.

With that said, I can be an idiot and enable it out of sheer novelty. LoI was such a case, as the voice acting was pretty good from what I listened to it, but only checked it out when I went to beat the game.

Edit: Oh yeah, another reason to go with japanese voice acting - when the localizers fucked up putting both in so that there may be bugs and lockups with english voiceacting. HEY THERE ATELIER IRIS!

Is it just me, or do the Japanese take that kind of thing more seriously?Single albums, sing-a-long lyrics at the bottom, voice actor/actress interviews, pop songs made by actual musicians the greater half of the time.

Hell, Bilyl West has voiced god knows how many characters over the years, but I think that voicing in Japan is like a somewhat celebrity status over there.

I kinda noticed that myself.

I wouldn't go so far as to say "celebrity status", but it is clear that the Japanese take their voice actors and their animation/games more seriously than we do here. There is a lot more name recognition in the fandom for japanese actors than there as for american ones, something that factors into preference, I believe. I mean, unless they're a big name Hollywood star voicing a character in an animation, they don't even mention which VA is voicing what. Hell, it's a known fact that a lot of us in the US don't take animation/games very seriously unless it's a major motion picture.

After DDS's VA, all other games seem surprisingly bad in this respect. Hell, even the bits where all the characters yell at each other don't sound bad in that game. Unlike BK, where shouting/crying sounds not too dissimilar to nails scratching a blackboard...

As for Fran, at first I thought "WTF HAVE THEY DONE TO HER VOICE?!", but now its sounds just about right. As with the other viera it is slightly accented but not so much that it's impossible to understand what she's saying. Balthier's voice is the only one that doesn't sound right to me - I think a Cockney accent sounds much better for a pirate than a posh London accent. And yay for British Imperials!

Balthier's voice is the only one that doesn't sound right to me - I think a Cockney accent sounds much better for a pirate than a posh London accent. And yay for British Imperials!

Did you actually finish the game? It would make absolutely NO SENSE for Balthier's character to have a Cockney accent.

Code:

He's a nobelman! He's only been a pirate for 4 years, and his only traveling companion is Fran. How the hell would he pick up a lower-class accent?

Not to mention, he's a very "classy" pirate. He quotes things, makes theatre analogies, and dresses impecibly (for his roll). Fran makes fun of him for walking through the sewer, when you first meet him, and he becomes very moody at the prospect of being in such a dingy place. His character, itself, almost borders on snobbery, regardless of accent. He's thetarical, sauve, and mellodramatic, how else would you expect him to speak? He's not some stripe-shirted meathead with a cutlass in his teeth. He's like a cross between Indiana Jones and 007.

Balthier's voice is the only one that doesn't sound right to me - I think a Cockney accent sounds much better for a pirate than a posh London accent. And yay for British Imperials!

Did you actually finish the game? It would make absolutely NO SENSE for Balthier's character to have a Cockney accent.

Code:

He's a nobelman! He's only been a pirate for 4 years, and his only traveling companion is Fran. How the hell would he pick up a lower-class accent?

Not to mention, he's a very "classy" pirate. He quotes things, makes theatre analogies, and dresses impecibly (for his roll). Fran makes fun of him for walking through the sewer, when you first meet him, and he becomes very moody at the prospect of being in such a dingy place. His character, itself, almost borders on snobbery, regardless of accent. He's thetarical, sauve, and mellodramatic, how else would you expect him to speak? He's not some stripe-shirted meathead with a cutlass in his teeth. He's like a cross between Indiana Jones and 007.

I didn't know all that... I was just commenting on the fact that every pirate and/or thief ever in an rpg has a cockney accent. Yeah okay his accent does suit his character.

I didn't know all that... I was just commenting on the fact that every pirate and/or thief ever in an rpg has a cockney accent. Yeah okay his accent does suit his character.

Well, the game gravely misuses the term "pirate". I think the term has become popular specifically because of Pirates of the Carribean, and in the RPG community a few others like Skies of Arcadia. But let's face it, what "pirate" means in FF12 isn't anything close to being a "pirate". They might as well just call them "merchants", "sailors", or "freelance cargo haulers", but those terms don't have the romance. Most pirates don't steal, cut people, raid ships, or anything... they just haul supplies. Balthier's more of the treasure hunting type... but the "good kind", like Indiana Jones.

I admit, I'm getting a bit sick of the "pirate" thing. If the term fits, use it, but if everything you do is legal, and you're pretty much limited to hauling goods and excavating ruins, I don't think the term applies.